Month: October 2023

31
Oct
2023

TOOOOOOOOOSDAY

Today is Reformation Day, a public holiday in Chile, Slovenia and parts of Germany. Reformation Day commemorates the day in 1517 when a German monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) strode up to the church in Wittenburg and nailed his 95 ‘theses’ (or propositions) to the church door. Luther chose to do this on October 31st as he knew the church would be full on the next day for All Saints’ Day.

Luther had hoped that pinning his protestations would spark wider debate about the process of ‘buying’ indulgences (which forgave sins) and harden public opinion against the practice. However, so many people agreed with his ideas that they quickly spread across western Europe, helped by the recent invention of the printing press, leading to the religious revolt known as the Reformation.

The reformation led many Christians to break off from the Roman Catholic Church and establish new, independent churches of their own, such as the Lutheran Church. The pivotal act would ultimately lead to the creation of the numerous Protestant denominations, so-called as they trace their theological lineage to this “protestation” of the Catholic Church. 

Pizza Party!!!!

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of American singer, songwriter and guitarist Moon Martin. Originally a rockabilly artist, he wrote the songs ‘Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)’, made famous by the English singer Robert Palmer, and ‘Cadillac Walk’, a hit for American singer Willy DeVille. Hi died on 11 May 2020 age 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlPHmYtqSdA

Posted by Tom in eighties music, Humor, Music
30
Oct
2023

MUN…DAI or something like that

Today is the October Bank Holiday in Ireland – always observed on the last Monday of October. After Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, the number of Irish public holidays was lower than that mandated for workers by the EEC. As a result. this day became a bank holiday in 1977 and although no particular reason was given for choosing the date, the date was probably chosen as it would fall at the same time as the half-term school break, which traditionally covered All Saints’ Day on 1st November.

It is interesting to note that there were four Gaelic seasonal festivals, marking key times of the year for agricultural communities. Of these, Beltane (the beginning of summer on 1st May) and Samhain (the beginning of winter on 1st November) were the most important and both these now have public holidays very near to their dates with both the modern public holidays being the two most recently adopted.

Halloween takes its roots from the Samhain Eve, when it was believed that the link between the worlds of living and dead was at its strongest. Some scholars believe that Samhain may have been the Celtic new year. With the Chritianisation of Ireland, the traditional date of Samhain, 1 November, was the same as All Saints’ Day. The traditions of Samhain Eve were allowed to continue, but ‘rebranded’ as All Hallow’s Eve or Halloweve for short. Some consider the later establishment of All Souls’ Day (Day of the Dead) as an attempt to replace the Pagan Halloween with a more Christian focused holiday.

Today is the birthday, in 1939, of American singer-songwriter Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, Starship. Slick provided vocals on a number of iconic songs, including ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘White Rabbit’, ‘We Built This City’ and ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_raXzIRgsA

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Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
27
Oct
2023

finally FRIDAY

Today is Independence Day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This holiday is the National Day of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and commemorates the independence of the islands from the United Kingdom on this day in 1979.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a southern Caribbean nation consisting of 32 islands, of which nine are inhabited. Britain won the European rights to the islands under the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, with a plantation economy based on sugar and slave trading emerging in the 19th century.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. After its dissolution in 1962, and the movement of the larger Caribbean countries to gain independence, the transition towards independence began. St. Vincent was granted “associate statehood” status by Britain on October 27th 1969. While this gave St. Vincent complete control over its own internal affairs, it fell short of complete independence.

It was exactly ten years later on October 27th 1979, when St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence following a referendum. It became a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elisabeth II as the head and Milton Cato became the first prime minister.

The fortunes of the islands have depended partly on the activity of La Soufrière, an active volcano on St. Vincent. It has violently erupted in 1708, 1812, 1902, 1979, and 2021. Thousands were evacuated to neighboring countries in 2021, many with the help of major cruise lines.

Small town…

Today is the birthday, in 1949, of American musician and record producer Garry Tallent who is the bass player with the Bruce Springsteen E Street Band. He started playing with Springsteen in 1971 and as of 2013, and not counting Springsteen himself, Tallent was the only original member of the E Street Band remaining in the band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM

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Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
26
Oct
2023

This…………….is THURSDAY!

Today is Austria’s National Day. Austria’s national holiday (German: Nationalfeiertag) is a public holiday on October 26th each year. This public holiday commemorates Austria’s Declaration of Neutrality on this day in 1955.

The Declaration of Neutrality was a declaration by the Austrian Parliament declaring the country permanently neutral. It was enacted on October 26th 1955 as a constitutional act of parliament.

The declaration was a direct result of the allied occupation by the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France between 1945 and 1955. The Soviet Union would not have agreed to the signing of a State Treaty in May 1955 if Austria had not committed itself to declare its neutrality after the allied forces had left the country. The final foreign troops left Austria on October 25th 1955.

Geeky stuff…

SIGNZ

Today is the birthday, in 1685, of Doménico Scarlatti, Baroque composer known mainly for his 555 keyboard sonatas. Here is the amazing Yuja Want with one of them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIAk61xEZ80

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Posted by Tom in classical, Humor, Music